Chapter 26: Goblin, A Woman's Best Friend
Goblin Commander: an ancient profession. Fair and lovely elves often use beautiful songs to harmonize with nature and listen to the grace of all things in the universe; ugly goblins prefer to use shocking whispers to force creatures into obedience, in order to achieve shameful ends.
Goblin Commander's Whisper: its effect increases with the depth of magic power and decreases with the number of targets controlled.
Altair's current mana depth is: 4 (366 mana).
When facing a wolf pack, the Whisper's effect will disperse.
The Violet Goblin Commander (Wolf Clan) has total magic power of 95 and mana depth 1. He can control three Dire Wolves, and sometimes it's a bit difficult.
Thus we can roughly estimate that it takes 30 magic power to control a Dire Wolf, and the cost for wolf pups and a Dire Wolf pack leader will certainly be higher.
There are more than thirty wolves here. Even Altair cannot control them all. However, if there are no other targets around, it will be easy to control the pack leader.
As long as the pack leader does not choose guerrilla warfare and attack weak goblins to force them to leave, there will be no doubt about the success of this goblin incursion!
"Ooooooooooooooooooo!!!"
The wolves lifted their heads to scent the sky, cheering for their leader, as if saying:
"Go, boss! Go, boss!"
"Tear him! Bite him to death!"
"Let these goblins know how strong our wolf clan is!"
Amid the cheers, the pack leader's spirit suddenly surged, and with his brethren's shouts, he grew confident.
The pack leader grinned and growled; a heartbeat later, he charged Altair, sharp fangs and claws flashing with a cold gleam. A beast's natural weapons, combined with magic power, can even rip through human-forged armor.
However fierce the pack leader, before Altair he would become instantly… adorable.
Altair stretched his hand toward the charging pack leader and murmured a wicked goblin whisper in the goblin tongue.
"I admire you—come here and be my dog."
As the control took hold, the charging pack leader halted, rolled on the ground and struggled for a moment, then finally quieted and lay before Altair.
The wolves fell silent for a beat, staring at their chief crawling on the ground, confusion on their faces.
What's happening?
Altair, culprit of the affair, was startled when he felt 10 points of intelligence deducted. So, intelligence was required after all.
What if one had enough magic power but too little intelligence—and after controlling other creatures, became an idiot?
The Goblin Emperor finally discovered the importance of INT.
It seems that if the goblins wish to train stronger Goblin Commanders, they must specifically find and capture a human woman who can increase intelligence genetically, to carry forward the Goblin Emperor's lineage.
Many goblin professions require intelligence, and goblins must slowly explore this new world.
But now was not the time to ponder this—the new strength was waiting to be added.
Altair approached the pack leader and reached out to touch its fur. The coat was quite rough and hard, like tree bark.
"Little Wolf, tell your mate and your brothers that from today on, you'll follow me."
The pack leader let out a long howl to carry the message to the wolves.
The sudden change left the wolves bewildered. They were not letting down their guard, but neither did they intend to attack again.
Taming a wild wolf pack is not easy, even if you control the pack leader. It takes time to adjust.
With the leader's help, Altair controlled three wolf pups here, then went to the den and controlled two more wolf pups there.
155 mana and 16 intelligence were consumed.
On average, a wolf pup required 31 mana and 3 intelligence.
By controlling the pack leader and the wolf pups, the wolf pack here was basically under Altair's control.
Altair rode the pack leader and brought several wolves and their pups back to the Goblin Cave, built a new den for them, and then slowly set about taming the wolves.
With the goblins' help, the pack prospered. The goblins were responsible for protecting the pups, increasing their numbers, and making hunts in the Misty Forest easier.
Once integration was complete, it was time for the goblins to expand their territory.
The lands occupied by the goblins and the wolf pack lacked resources, and they had suffered for a long time because of it.
When the old scholar Anrus saw Altair bring back the pack leader, he cried out and knelt on the spot, then handed his goblin wooden staff to Altair.
A goblin staff functions like a human mage's staff: it raises mana depth and aids the use of magic power.
But Altair didn't need it. He would no longer act rashly. He would hide in the deepest part of the Goblin Cave to ensure complete safety. This was what he ought to do.
Lyra, out on a walk, grew anxious at the sight of goblins taming ferocious wild wolves.
This would only make it harder when her family came to save her.
She gripped Altair's hand and whispered aside: "Le, these goblins have tamed Dire Wolves. It's terrifying."
The poor human girl always thought someone would come to rescue her—and that Altair, who had looked after her under goblin watch—was still unknown to her as such; she didn't yet know her father had already sent people to save her, and even her brother had come in person and already left.
Altair: "Is it terrifying? Haven't humans tamed beasts and magical beasts?"
Lyra: "It is terrifying!"
Lyra's face was serious. With her slightly rounded belly, she extended her fingers and chatted with Altair, saying, "Lady Andayal once said the origin of the term 'beast' was precisely that they cannot be tamed.
"They will not acknowledge other races. In every country, only those with the rare profession of beast tamer, who have contract slots for beasts—which make the beasts stronger—will be willing to partner with humans, and only with contracted beasts.
"Nas–Andayal, the famed daughter of Duke Nass, gifted in letters and martial arts."
Speaking of Lady Andayal, admiration unconsciously appeared in Lyra's eyes.
"Gentle and kind Lady Andayal is devoted to studying the possibility of coexistence between monsters and humans. Andayal can even befriend tiny monsters like slimes."
In the eyes of the great Lady Andayal, monsters could also be partners—but goblins had no value in coexistence and were a species that must be exterminated.
As for beasts, Lady Andayal also said there is no way to truly approach them. Beasts raised by humans are highly likely to explode in violence and attack humans one day.
The Andayal Lyra spoke of seemed to be a woman with great dreams.
Altair indeed found that Dire Wolves were not very disciplined—but under the suppression of the pack leader and the wolf pups, they did not dare act rashly.
"There must be Goblin Commanders here—more than one," Lyra said, face solemn, clutching Altair's hand tightly and voicing her worry.
Altair: "Are Goblin Commanders that strong?"
Lyra: "Mm-hmm, very strong. They're a very vile kind of goblin. Generally, fewer than one out of ten goblins bears violet skin. They use strange language to induce weird physiological reactions in human women in order to achieve their hidden motives. Among some hooligan mercenaries, Goblin Commanders are known as 'A Woman's Best Friend.'"
Altair: ?
Altair: "Aren't Goblin Commanders about controlling other creatures?"
Lyra: "That's their side job."